Technology Today Series
Sponsored by the Department of Information Resources
Program Description & Guidelines
Overview
Texas leadership believes that continuing education is a
critical piece of successful technology management. It is
imperative that the 200+ agency and university Information
Resources Managers (IRMs) stay abreast of current technology and
continue to develop appropriate knowledge areas. The Department of
Information Resources (DIR) administers the IRM Continuing
Education Guidelines and offers some educational activities to
supplement each IRM’s individual staff development
efforts.
The Technology Today Series (TTS) represents an
on-going series of free technical briefings for IRMs and their
staff sponsored by DIR. Each presentation provides continuing
education that enhances the IRMs’ ability to meet the
challenges of rapidly changing technology and to effectively
utilize information resources within their organizations. This
program has been very successful, attracting audiences of 40-160
attendees.
Opportunities to Participate
Speakers for the Technology Today Series may be invited
from Texas agencies and universities, external government bodies,
and the vendor community. For a vendor, hosting one of these
briefings can provide an excellent opportunity to demonstrate
expertise, showcase skills and strengths, gain exposure among Texas
agencies, and to get to know key agency staff.
Basic Parameters
- DIR will be the primary sponsor and each briefing will meet DIR
educational objectives and guidelines for the series.
- Any additional sponsors of the program must be approved in
advance by DIR.
- Each briefing may last from 2 – 4 hours. In special
cases, an all-day event may be considered.
- The event must be offered free to invited IRMs and IR
staff.
- The topic must be completely educational and support at least
one of the IRM Competencies. Product demonstrations or marketing
presentations may not be included.
- Dates are very flexible but must be coordinated with DIR in
advance.
- The primary target location is Austin; but other locations can
be considered.
- The event must meet the IRM Continuing Education Guidelines so
that IRMs may count it for continuing education credit.
- A host may choose to provide any of the following:
- Speaker
- Facilities
- Refreshments
- Registration Services
- Alternative Delivery Formats (Internet broadcast,
videoconference, etc.)
This is intended to be an informal, but valuable series. The
number of briefings and the schedule is very flexible. As the
series is organized, DIR will notify IRMs via email of the seminar
schedule and take on-line registration. In its simplest format, an
entity may offer to provide just a speaker. In that case, DIR will
arrange for a lecture room, notify the IRMs via email, and accept
on-line registration. Logistically, it is kept very simple. In
other cases, an entity may offer to host the entire event,
including handling registration and providing the facilities.
(Please note, DIR staff time available to coordinate this series is
limited. The greater DIR's role in the logistics coordination, the
fewer briefings DIR will be able to sponsor.)
Topic Areas
Agency and university IT staff continue to express interest in a
wide variety of topics, naturally including any information on
leading technology issues:
Additionally, the IRM Continuing Education Guidelines provides a
list of competency areas and required topics.
Briefings may range from an introduction or overview of the
subject to very detailed coverage of a specific area of the
topic.
Marketing Opportunities
Vendors who host briefings are allowed to add an optional
corporate session after the briefing as long as this is clearly
identified in the agenda. For instance, the educational session may
be from 8:30-11:30 with 11:30-Noon devoted to Company XYZ Product
and Services. Corporate handouts are also acceptable.
Resources
The following specific links may prove be helpful:
Please visit the Training & Education page to see what is
currently scheduled.
Proposals
To participate in this series, please send a brief
description of the proposed topic, speaker credentials, potential
dates, and services the host will provide to:
Joy Hall Bryant
Department of Information Resources
P.O. Box 13564
Austin, TX 78701-3564
Phone: (512) 475-2346
joy.bryant@dir.state.tx.us
(The proposal does not need to be formal or complex, and sending
it via email is fine.)
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